Do the headwaters of Big Escambia Creek begin in the Ollie community of Monroe County, Alabama?

Waters flow beneath Highway 21 bridge at Ollie.

One of the busiest intersections in all of Monroe County is the U.S. Highway 84 and State Highway 21 intersection at Ollie. Many consider this intersection to be the unofficial dividing line between the southern and northern halves of the county. Many of you reading this column probably pass through this busy intersection every day.

I found myself sitting under a red light at Ollie on Monday morning, and my thoughts turned to the history of this area. Sources say that Ollie had its own post office from 1894 to 1914. Prior to that, the community was known as Shiverville.

Shiverville was one of the stops on the old Manistee & Repton Railroad. Other stops along the line included Dottelle, Conoly, Tekoa, Snider Crossing and Lufkin. In the early 1900s, J.D. Shivers was manager of the railroad, and more than likely Shiverville takes its name from this old railroad official.

Back in those days, if you got the idea to ride the train from Shiverville to Manistee, it wasn’t a fast trip. Most timetables from that day show that it was a one-hour ride to Manistee. Going the other way, it was a one-hour trip to Dottelle.

The oldest reference to the Ollie community that I could find in back issues of The Monroe Journal was in the Sept. 10, 1896 edition of the paper. In that edition, a correspondent that went by the nickname “Mouse,” reported that farmers were busy picking cotton, and that J.F. Gardner was rebuilding his saw mill. Mouse also reported that M.L. Shepherd and his son, Walter, were filling a contract for square timber near Ollie.

Like many small communities throughout the county, Ollie once boasted its own school. The earliest reference to a school at Ollie that I could find was in 1902. Honor roll students at that time included Howard Gunn, Clark Holloway, Earl Gunn, Ellie Holloway, Ibby Gardner, Ollie Gardner, Ella Smith, Fannie Griggers, Jno. Griggers, May Smith and Lula White.

I have also often heard people say that the headwaters of Big Escambia Creek originate in the Ollie area. Detailed maps of this area show this to be apparently true as a number of small creeks and streams merge in the Ollie area and form Big Escambia Creek. From Ollie, this large creek flows south past Frisco City, Megargel and Goodway as it makes its way into Escambia County and into Florida near Flomaton.

On Monday, I pulled over near the intersection of Highway 21 and Oak Grove Road for a closer look at the stream that runs under both roadways. Those of you who have paid attention to this stream will know that it rises and falls depending on how much rainfall we get. As I stood there, watching the black water flow beneath the bridges, it was interesting to think that sometime in the distant future, those same waters will eventually flow across the Florida state line.

In the end, I’d like to hear from anyone in the reading audience who has more information about the Ollie area and its status as the headwaters of Big Escambia Creek. I’m also interested in any ghost stories, local legends and Indian lore from this part of the county. So if you know of anything along those lines, please let me hear from you.